THE INTELLIGENCE OF NATURE

A strong wind was blowing the fog over the mountain. We had found a sheltered camp near to a brook in the valley. Flames and smoke were curling upward from a blazing fire. The surrounding thick bushes kept us sheltered. A blast of the wind would hit the fire from time to time producing a shower of sparks. It was warm and comfortable around the fire. The kettles were boiling. The aromatic smoke from the dry junipers mixed with the scent of the tea and with the astringent taste of the fog. The big red kettle had been emptied a few times already.

We were seated among the dry bushes warming ourselves at the fire. Then a sister told the Master, "I cannot free myself from the feeling that Intelligent Beings exist behind all this activity of Nature."

The Master said:

"Nature reflects the combined activity of Intelligent Beings. Man needs to look at Her as the sum total of the Intelligent Forces. Behind the wind and behind the fog other forces exist which you need to study. Until you learn about the Intelligent Forces which are active in nature, you will always be in discord.

"One of the tasks of man is to make contact with the Intelligent Forces. If we pick up a glowing ember with tongs and place it in the fireplace, the wood will be set on fire. The ember and the tongs do not know what I am thinking, but behind them exists an intelligent hand which directs them. Behind every phenomenon - whatever it might be -is hidden an Intelligent Force which directs it. You visit a factory and observe how the machines are moving. Are their movements intelligent? Who has set them into motion? The engineer. He regulates their movements. He has taken into consideration the order of the entire factory. The machines are moving at his directive.

"By the same Law, the sun also has a Technician who has set it into motion and determines its path. The earth and the moon have their paths of movement. Scientists are looking for the causes of this movement in the physical forces: they make calculations; they create various theories. These scientists are correct, but they do not suspect that behind every physical force an Intelligent Force exists which directs phenomena.

"Life manifests itself as one Supreme Intelligence. From one end to the other of Life, Supreme Intelligence exists. There exist Advanced Beings who work in the Intelligent Nature.

"For me the rays of the sun represent Intelligence. A bud and a flower are windows through which I can see the one Reality, the one sublime world: a world of Beings with great Intelligence.

"We see the material world as dead, but in reality everything is alive. The pen is moving, but there is an intelligent being who moves it. The pen does not know, but the intelligence of that hand which moves it knows.

"There is a connection between the spiritual and the physical worlds. The physical world depends upon the spiritual. If you look at the material world as being separate, you cannot comprehend anything. But if you look at it as the result of the spiritual world, then you can comprehend it. When you realize that behind all physical phenomena Intelligent Forces are active, then these physical phenomena will exert another influence on you.

"The geological changes are not the result of mechanical causes alone. Behind every change. Intelligent Forces are at work. The geologists are analyzing the data. If Intelligent Forces exist behind this data, that does not interest them. The earth has been folded many times, and such folding occurs today. It will occur in the future, as well. There are foldings of the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. Today places exist where the floor uplifts. According to which Law does this uplifting occur? How has the folding occurred through which the Himalayas, the Alps and the other mountain ranges were uplifted? The Intelligent Forces are the cause for this.

"As for those who are not acting in accordance with natural laws, Nature permits them to do whatever they wish but also has them experience the consequences. Nature has a completely different relationship with those who live in accordance with Her Laws, and She warns them when She is about to do something. It is said, 'God has revealed His Mysteries to those who love Him.'

"The new Teaching states that Nature is alive and intelligent. Many will smile at that statement and say, 'We need to subdue nature, to become its master.' In this lies the adversity of man - that he thinks that he can subdue Nature. This is impossible. This idea needs to be chased from your minds and from the minds of your children! It is not a question of subduing Nature but to study it, to come in contact with its Laws, to be in harmony with it. Many scientists attempt to overpower Nature, but in reality. She is the master. Nature demands compensation for every attempt to subdue Her.

"This world war teaches and educates people. Nature asks them, 'How dare you invent these explosives? I will give you such a lesson that you will remember it for years.' What have people done who have peeked into the secrets of Nature? They have invented explosives and airplanes in order to kill, to destroy each other. Is this mastery of Nature? This is misuse of the Divine Forces. Instead of using them for the development of humankind, they are using them for its destruction. One day, when people pass through nature, they will not walk so presumptuously and carelessly, but will become overcautious and will ask, 'Please, is it allowed to just pass through and only peek?'

"Man wants to overpower Nature with his human will! In no sacred book has it been written that man must subdue Nature. This makes for a deviation in science which has brought much adversity to humankind. There will never be a time in which humankind may subdue Nature. This is the error of worldly-minded people."